Experimental assessment of crack width estimations in international design codes

Cracking due to restraint of early age thermal and long-term shrinkage strains frequently causes serviceability problems in edge restrained reinforced concrete structures, such as liquid retaining and nuclear structures. Consequences of current design recommendations for the design of crack control reinforcement are reported contradictorily in the literature, leading to both excessive crack widths and overly conservative reinforcement designs in practice. This research aims to experimentally investigate the underlying assumptions and parameters affecting the cracking of edge restrained elements. In this work, the results of 8 tests on edge restrained reinforced concrete walls are reported. The crack widths, spacing and profiles obtained from the tests are compared with those estimated using different design codes.